The Pennsylvania State Employees’ Retirement System returned 15.1% net of all fees in 2017, boosting its funded ratio in the process.
The public worker pension plan now has $29.7 billion in assets under management and is 59.4% funded, its 2017 comprehensive annual financial report revealed. The gains satisfy actuarial numbers reported in April. Total assets have grown slightly larger than the $29.3 billion predicted.
The 2017 returns mark 17 out of 20 years in which the fund has achieved positive earnings.
Over the year, the fund increased its equity exposure to 55% of assets. The other big change was in hedge funds, which are now half of 2016’s allocations (4%). Minor tweaks were made to fixed income (now 16%), private equity (13%), real estate (7%), and short-term investments (5%).
The fund still has $19.7 billion in pension obligations. This year, the Pennsylvania retirement system paid $3.3 billion to its beneficiaries. Employer and member contributions totaled $2.2 billion.
Tags: CAFR, Pennsylvania SERS, Pension, Returns